The following is a collection of short interviews of teachers at Seattle Academy. All were asked the same three questions “Where did you go to college?” “Why did you choose that school?” and “In hindsight, were you happy with your choice?”

Over the next few weeks, I will be interviewing Seattle Academy students who play football for other high schools. This week, I interviewed Peter Nguyen, Owen Brower, and Daniel Norwitz.

Peter Nguyen (Franklin)

Q: Why did you decide to play football?

Peter: I wanted to try a new sport and I knew a whole bunch of friends at Roosevelt that convinced me to play.

Q: Has it been worth the effort?

Peter: Yes it has. It’s been really fun just hanging out with everyone and having that brotherhood, and it’s just like we got each other’s backs now and it’s really fun.

Q: What’s been your biggest challenge?

Peter: My biggest challenge has been to go to practice every day since we get out at 3:00 and our practice basically starts at 3:30, so we have to get there quickly. And then managing time to do homework afterwards.

Q: What has been the most fun or satisfying part?

Peter: I would say just playing, practicing too. Both are just really fun. We have fun practicing and we have even more fun playing in the games. Even though we don’t win that much and we don’t do that great, it’s just fun playing with each other.

Q: Do you think you are going to play again next year?

Peter: Yeah. For sure I’m playing again next year.

Q: What advice would you give someone else who wanted to play?

Peter: I would tell them to just go out there and play. You don’t need to have any experience at all and you can just go out there and have a great time. And you’ll learn a lot by just joining.

Owen Brower (Franklin)

Q: Why did you decide to play football?

Owen: Because I like lifting weights and I like hitting people.

Q: Has it been worth the effort?

Owen: For sure.

Q: What’s been your biggest challenge?

Owen: This is my first season so my first game I played pretty poorly and I didn’t know what I was doing. Now I lead the team in tackles.

Q: What has been the most fun or satisfying part?

Owen: Hitting.

Q: Do you think you are going to play again next year?

Owen: For sure.

Q: What advice would you give someone else who wants to play?

Owen: Lift a lot before you play, because the weight room makes everything easier. I was small, I was like 130 pounds and now I’m 200, and it just makes everything so much easier.

Q: If SAAS had a football team, would you play on it?

Owen: For sure. Definitely.

Daniel Norwitz (Roosevelt)

Q: Why did you decide to play football?

Daniel: I had always played rugby, which is a contact sport. Rugby isn’t really a school sport in this country, so I wanted to play a school sport that was similar and I decided to play football. I started in freshman year. I hadn’t played before that.

Q: Has it been worth the effort?

Daniel: Yeah, definitely. There’s a sense of teamwork, obviously as it’s a team sport, but more so because you go through such awful experiences to get there.

Q: What’s been your biggest challenge?

Daniel: I’m pretty injury prone, so last year I separated my shoulder, and this year I got a concussion. Sort of avoiding further injuries is pretty difficult, but I’m successful so far.

Q: What has been the most fun or satisfying part?

Daniel: Probably the team growth. Not just that I’ve gotten to be a better football player, but last year our team didn’t do very well and this year we’re second in state, so that sort of progressive jump. Working hard together makes the whole thing pretty cool.

Daniel: Several things. One, especially playing for a school you don’t go to, get on top of getting paperwork into the public school you are going to play for. That’s a big deal. Also, to avoid injury being as heavy as possible. Healthy weight is a big deal, so get in the weight room. And don’t be set on a position you want to play. Some people are like, “I want to be a receiver,” or “I want to be a running back,” “I want to be a quarterback.” Be an athlete and that’ll help you get more time on the field as opposed to just practicing and then sitting on the sideline for games.

Q: If SAAS had a football team, would you play on it?

Daniel: That would depend on a lot of things. Mostly coaching staff. Coaching is a huge deal in football. I’m sure we’d get pretty good equipment, but as we’re in the middle of the city, our sports teams often go to different places for practice and it’s a big deal that you can be comfortable on a practice field to be comfortable on a playing field. And then, it would be kind of difficult because we don’t have a whole lot of people. It would be difficult because you wouldn’t have so many substitutes.